Note from the author: Total Words: 16,304. Words to go: 13,696.
Today I’m making a real effort to keep myself together. I want to be cool, calm, and collected for graduation. Matt and Gus seem to have similar philosophies.
Since Gus took the whole day off, he joins us for breakfast. It’s weird to see him in formal clothes. I’m so used to seeing him in jeans and an apron. Sometimes he even wears one of those awesome chef hats. Today he pulled out all the stops. He’s donning a back tuxedo, a light blue dress shirt, a black tie, and some very shiny leather shoes.
After lugging everything down the dock, Matty stopped by his room to change his outfit. Now he’s wearing a pale purple dress shirt, a black bow tie, a pair of tan cords, and some swanky shoes. His hair is jelled into fancy little spikes. Overall, he looks pretty dang good.
Alexis stops by our table to wish me good luck. She gives me her email address so we can stay in contact. I‘m touched. Maybe we were friends all along. Then she bats her eyelashes and gives Matt her email address too. I guess not. She compliments his outfit before bouncing away to her table. Once she sits down her gang of friends surrounds her. They start giggling and glancing over at Matt. I roll my eyes.
Meanwhile Gus is having a hard time with breakfast. He’s so used to cooking everything the way he likes it. It’s weird for him to eat something that some one else concocted. I can see that he’s trying to keep his criticism to himself, but he can’t contain it.
“Charlie, don’t you think these eggs would be better with a pinch more pepper? Right, Matt?” he says mildly.
Neither of us respond. “And the orange juice could be a little bit colder if you ask me…” he trails off. Me and Matty exchange a smile.
“I’m just going to go give Chef Rico a few tips…I’ll see you guys in a couple hours,” he says, practically sprinting towards the kitchen.
“Don’t ruin your outfit, mister!” I call after him. I don’t think he heard me.
“And then there were two,” says Matt.
“What do you want to do for two and a half hours? We’ve got some time to kill,” I reply.
“Hmmm. Well I’d suggest we go pig wrestling in some mud, but I suppose that would ruin our outfits,” he deadpans.
“Ohh. Darn. Maybe we could fit it in,” I respond, pretending to consider his suggestion.
“I’ll get the pigs, you get the mud,” he suggests.
“Really, Matt, what should we do?” I ask. Neither of us comes up with any spectacularly good ideas so we just go back to his room and watch a movie. When the credits start to, we take off to Room A.
“Break a leg, Char!” Matt encourages, shooting me a thumbs up. He goes into the room while I continue on down the hallway.
I enter through the back door. I find myself behind the stage. The lady, still completely dressed in yellow, greets me hurriedly. She rushes off making sure that everything is perfect. I know I should be grateful for her attention to detail, but she’s just not a very nice gal. She’s self-absorbed. I sit down in a chair until I hear the music start as my cue. Pomp and Circumstance, the traditional graduation march, wafts through the air.
I rise, smile, and walk out onto the stage. I glance around taking in the décor. There are pale purple flower petals spread all over the floor. A shiny chandelier hangs over the stage. Amy and Gus are sitting up close and personal to the stage. They each have their own luxurious, leather recliner chairs. One of the three chairs is empty. Matt is mysteriously absent. I start to wonder if he took a bathroom break when I spot him. He’s playing the music on his cello. As if sensing my glance, he looks up and smiles at me. I mouth “thank you”. He nods then turns his attention back to his instrument.
